The Seat Leon ST is the estate version of the Leon, so as you’d expect, there’s plenty of luggage room (587 litres with the seats up, 1470 litres with them down). Our practicality testers found space for every last bit of our typical load holiday luggage, including awkwardly shaped items like the Aquaroll.

The 1.6-litre diesel engine promises good economy (74.3mpg on the combined cycle) and low emissions (99g/km of carbon dioxide), but still has enough poke to pull a caravan up to speed. We recorded a steady but respectable 30-60mph time of 20.8 seconds. That’s a lot slower than the petrol Leon SC, though, and the ST’s diesel engine was considerably noisier.

In a straight line the ST proved stable enough, needing only slight steering corrections to counter crosswinds. The lane-change test saw the back of the car pulled around slightly by the van, but even so it was more composed than most small cars.

A very firm and definite pull on the handbrake was needed to stop car and caravan rolling backwards on the 1-in-6 test hill, and the clutch needed a lot of slipping to reverse uphill.

The Leon is keenly priced. This is a lot of car for less than £20,000.

2019
Category Winners
2019 Up to 1400kg

Škoda Octavia

Hatch 1.5 TSI 150PS SE L DSG

2019 1400-1549kg

Seat Ateca

2.0 TSI 190PS FR DSG

2019 1550-1699kg

Volkswagen Arteon

2.0 TDI 150PS Elegance DSG

2019 1700-1899kg

BMW 520d

Touring xDrive M Sport

2019 1900kg+

Land Rover Discovery

3.0 SDV6 HSE

2019 Best Budget 4x4

Dacia Duster

1.5 dCi Ambiance 4x4

2019 Best Plug-In Hybrid

Land Rover Range Rover Sport

P400e HSE Dynamic

2019 Best Ultralight Tow Car

Seat Arona

1.0 TSI 115 FR

2019 Fuel Economy Award

Ford Focus Estate

1.5 EcoBlue 120PS Titanium X

Previous Winners
2018
1700-1899kg

BMW 520d

Touring xDrive M Sport

2017
1900kg+

Land Rover Discovery

3.0 Td6 HSE*

2016
1400-1549kg

Skoda Superb Hatch

2.0 TDI 150PS SE Business

2015
1400-1549kg

Volkswagen Passat Estate

2.0 TDI BMT 150PS SE Business DSG

2014
1400-1549kg

Nissan Qashqai

1.6 dCi (130PS) Stop/Start System Acenta Premium

2013
Up to 1424kg

Skoda Octavia

2.0 TDI CR 150PS Elegance

2012
1725–1899kg

Jaguar XF

2.2D Premium Luxury

2011
1425-1574kg

Volkswagen Passat Estate

2.0 TDI 170 Bluemotion Sport

2010
1900kg+

Land Rover Discovery 4

3.0 TDV6 XS

2009
1900kg+

Volvo XC60

D5 SE Geartronic

2008
1575-1724kg

Ford Mondeo Estate

2.0 TDCi Titanium auto

2007
1575-1724kg

Volkswagen Passat Estate

2.0 TDI Sport 4Motion

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